1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to creels used for supplying stranded materials to a machine or process for subsequent treatment of the stranded materials or for the fabrication of articles out of the stranded materials. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for supporting a plurality of spools of stranded material, or packages, such that the stranded material carried by the packages may be sequentially supplied to a machine or industrial process. With even greater particularity, the invention relates to a creel magazine capable of receiving and guiding a predetermined number of strands of material to a machine or industrial process, wherein a creel cartridge carries a plurality of material packages sequentially connected for each of the predetermined strands.
2. Related Art
The use of creels for supporting stranded material packages is well known in the textile industry and finds application in other industries utilizing stranded materials as well. Modern high-speed processing systems require a continuous, uninterrupted supply of yarns, fed from a plurality of yarn packages supported throughout the creel. However, despite their widespread use, the task of loading and maintaining the supply of stranded materials in the creel remains an extremely labor intensive operation, involving both gross and fine motor skills. Moreover, the efficiency of these systems is dependent upon the ability to provide a continuous stream of material to the process. Interruptions of the process are usually caused by a breakage of the stranded material which occur most frequently where successive material packages are joined, such as by a knot or other methods well known in the art.
Depending on the location of the breakage, process down time can be a matter of minutes, reflecting system shutdown, fault diagnosis, rejoining the broken strands, and system restart procedures. Moreover, modern high speed processing systems are usually designed with fault detection measures that are intended to prevent broken strands from entering the processing machinery. However, should these systems fail and a strand breakage enters the system, or where a strand breaks internally of the system, delays on the order of hours may be experienced as the entire machine will need to be reset.
Conventional creel systems utilize yarn package supports which are arrayed on a plurality of support posts extending from a free standing frame of the creel and positioned so as to feed the manufacturing process. Eyelets or other guide means are provided vertically and laterally throughout the creel through which each of a plurality of yarn strands are fed to the processing system. Accordingly, monitoring, loading and maintenance of the creel is performed from a front side of the creel so that the operators will not be exposed to hazards presented by running lengths of stranded materials extending from the back side of the creel. In the typical process, a pair of package supports are configured in alignment with each eyelet and the respective yarn strands from the paired packages are tied or otherwise attached in series to alternately feed the process.
Replacement of a yarn package in a creel typically requires a worker to remove a depleted package cone out of the creel from its working position to a loading position; remove and dispose of a spent cone from the package holder; lift the replacement yarn package from a delivery platform, such as a pallet or bulk container cart; transport the package to the indicated package support; manipulate the package to mount it on the package support; rotate the replenished package support into the creel; and tie or otherwise secure the lead end of the replenished yarn package to the tail end of the paired feeding yarn package. As can be readily seen, the operation and maintenance of a typical creel is and remains a labor intensive task
In systems utilizing manual loading methods, a typical package will be limited to having a weight on the order of 8 to 14 pounds. In a given shift, a textile worker tasked with loading and maintaining the creel in a conventional process will lift, transport, and manipulate as much as six thousand pounds of packaged materials. Because the package supports are arrayed at varying heights and distances from the delivery platform, the typical laborer is subjected to significant risk of musculo-skeletal injuries presented at each step of the yarn package replacement process. Moreover, because the loading and replenishment of individual packages occurs at the creel, the activity remains a complex labor intensive one when combined with the related tasks of monitoring the condition, maintenance and performance of the system. Accordingly, there remains a need for improving the efficiency and reducing the complexity of creel operations.